


Late-Night Talks

by fangirls5ever



Category: Voltron - Fandom, Voltron Legendary Defender
Genre: Eventual Fluff, Gen, Late night talks, M/M, Slow Burn, starting from the end of season 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2017-09-21
Packaged: 2018-12-17 05:36:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11845017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirls5ever/pseuds/fangirls5ever
Summary: Lance and Keith provide moral support for each other.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [colonel-mustard-chan-senpai-sensei-sama](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=colonel-mustard-chan-senpai-sensei-sama).



> I really love slow-burn fics, so I'm hoping I can try and accomplish that. Thank you so much reading! :)

"I couldn't sleep, and you're the only person I didn't feel bad about waking up."  


Keith stifled a yawn, frowning at Lance as he leaned against the doorway of his room. It was well past midnight, and Keith was exhausted after their recent fight against a battleship. He hadn't slept for three days as he tried to bond with Black, and was well past his limit. "Touching. Come in."  


Lance complied, casting a quick glance about the room as the doors hissed shut behind him. Keith's jacket hung on a hook by the door, and his boots were at the end of the bed, laces still knotted. Besides the clothing, the room was near identical to the rest of the paladins'.  


Keith pressed a hand to his forehead and winced, dropping back onto the bed with little ceremony. The covers had been kicked to the end, edges untucked and rolled into a bundle. "So, what's up?"  


Lance crossed his arms and sat beside Keith, putting a fair amount of distance between them. They had been on decently friendly terms since Shiro's shocking disappearance and reappearance, but it still felt strange to be so close to the new black paladin. After seeing Keith as his rival the whole time at the garrison, Lance was having trouble shifting his mindset. "I know that things changed a lot when Shiro disappeared," he said slowly, "but it feels like it just got more mixed up when he came back, y'know? I'm not saying I don't want the guy back, but—we'd just figured out what to do with the lions. We knew that we could form Voltron and keep fighting Zarkon. The Paladins matched up with our numbers perfectly, and the black lion chose a new paladin. We were ready. But... now what?"  


"Hmm," Keith agreed drowsily, nodding his head.  


"Hey, I can head back to my room if you need the sleep. We can talk in the morning."  


Keith shook his head, eyes still closed. "No, I want to discuss this too."  


Lance raised a brow. "You're not even fully conscious."  


"I'm perfectly awake, thank you." Keith forced his eyes to open with considerable effort before turning to look at Lance, crossing his arms and matching his slouch. "And anyways, I'm glad that Shiro's back. I know that we can't go return to our old lions, but Shiro is what we need now. A strong, competent leader."  


"You weren't doing so bad yourself, Mullet."  


Keith scoffed, looking slightly more awake. "How many times did I nearly kill us? And all in the span of, what, two days? Look, I know that you think you're the odd man out, that none of the lions are suited to you, and that you're going to be kicked out of Voltron."  


Lance nodded, brow furrowing. Hopefully this pep talk would be taking a quick change of tone, because Lance did not need the added insecurities.  


"But you're completely wrong," Keith said firmly, tilting his chin up. "You're a good pilot, and our team's sharpshooter. Don't put yourself down like that, okay? Red is lucky to have you, and I'm glad it chose you."  


Lance shook his head, looking up at the ceiling. "Then what happens when Shiro gets the black lion back? Who gets cut from the team? You're our top pilot, Shiro's our leader, and Allura made more progress with Blue in a day than I did in a month."  


Keith frowned, reaching under his pillow to grab the Marmora blade he always carried (Lance had been wondering where he was keeping it). "Don't be so quick to discredit yourself."  


"Funny that you'd be the one to say that."  


"Look, I know what will happen when Shiro gets his lion back, and it doesn't involve you losing your lion."  


Lance turned sharply to look at Keith, but the black-haired boy was focused on the knife, running a finger along its edge. "What do you mean?" he asked.  


"Shiro gets Black, right?" Keith said, drawing back his hand as the blade lengthened in a burst of light to a wickedly curved sword. Lance raised a brow at the display. "You get Red, and Allura gets Blue."  


"Keith, I notice you've cut a key figure out of this picture, and, let's be realistic here, you're the better pilot."  


Keith ignored him, continuing, "I can do my best to help Coran on the ship, but I'm not the best-suited for the job. I'll join up with the Blade of Marmora and help them win their battles. I'm decent with a knife, and part Galra, so they shouldn't protest me joining them too much. My mom had some kind of connection with them, so hopefully that will work in my favor."  


Lance opened his mouth to protest, but promptly shut it, falling silent for a moment, brow furrowed. "You've thought this out pretty far, huh?" he said finally.  


"It came to me the last time we talked about it," Keith said, covering his mouth as he yawned. "I know you've been worried."  


"That was actually—really nice of you. Thanks."  


"No problem."  
The two sat in silence, Keith slowly drifting off, eyes shutting, and Lance gazing at the far wall with an unusually thoughtful expression. When he finally came back to reality, he shook his head, glancing over to find Keith fast asleep.  


Standing up as quietly as he could, he took the blade from Keith's hand and set it on the ground beside the bed before slowly lowering Keith onto his side. Grabbing the pillow from the top of the bed, he slid it under the black-haired boy's head and drew the covers over him, patting his head.  


"Night, leader."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I have no clue what will happen in season 4, I'm hoping I'll be able to make stuff up. I'm already so ready for season 4. I'm glad that they released season 3 even though it was shorter, but I'm still so ready for answers/character development/is Shiro a clone/Lotor's true goal.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! :)

"You know," Keith said, watching the doors slide open to reveal Lance, "we could always meet during the day, when we're not half-asleep."  


Lance scoffed, walking past Keith as the black paladin stepped aside to let him enter. "And ruin our rivalry? Never."  


Keith rolled his eyes. "Right, our rivalry."  


Lance nodded, flopping onto the bed and patting the space beside him. "Yes. Now that we've gone over that, I was wondering if you had any tips on bonding with Red. You know, fastest lion alive, breathes fire, etc."  


Keith settled beside him and crossed his arms. He bit his lip, tilting his head to the side. "Red likes to charge straight ahead into battles. We matched because we were both impulsive."  


"Interesting, interesting," Lance said, gesturing with his hand to continue.  


"Really, Lance," Keith said, shaking his head. "You should just go inside the lion and try to connect with it. Share some past experiences, crack jokes, I don't know, whatever you did to bond with Blue. It won't be the same, but you can start there."  


"You're starting to sound like a real expert, Keith. I should be writing this down."  


Keith shoved Lance's shoulder. "Bonding with Red is probably different for every paladin. I can't really help you there, but—I've been trying to bond with Black. I could tell you about that."  


Lance nodded, flashing him a quick smile. Keith's was, admittedly, the only advice he had sought on the subject all day. He had been a bit nervous to ask Shiro (the guy's lion wouldn't respond to him, and he didn't want to rub salt in the wound by complaining about his own lion-bonding issues), Allura had Blue to handle, and Pidge was busy using her technological know-how on tracking Lotor's new ship. He had tried approaching Hunk, but didn't want to add to his stress. The guy was empathetic, and Lance didn't want to thrust new worries on him.  


Keith looked away, focusing on his hands. They twitched, probably missing the Marmora blade (the thing was never far away). "I know I'm going to have to leave Black soon, but since Shiro still hasn't connected with it, I need to train with it. Black flies different than Red, so it's been a little strange. I've tried flying with it for a bit, and that seemed to help, but in open space, there's nothing to really train with. And no, Lance," he added, noticing how the boy perked up, "we're not going to make the castle shoot at me."  


Lance dimmed slightly, but nodded. "Continue."  


Keith reached for one of his boots by the end of the bed, pulling the Marmora knife out of it (really, did he rotate hiding spots?) and began spinning it along his fingers. "Anyways, I've also tried feeding it memories. When I was at the garrison, when I met Shiro, things like that."  


"Did it work?" Lance asked, eyeing the knife closely as it tipped a bit too far to the side.  


The blade righted, and Keith shrugged. "I guess. I can sense Black, but it's nothing like it was with Red. If I called, I'm not sure Black would answer."  


Lance nodded. "Same with Red. It's more like the lion tolerates me than wants me."  


"I'm sure that's not true," Keith said, and glanced up at him, Lance giving a pointed look at the knife in his hands. Keith rolled his eyes, looking back down at the blade as it spun faster. "Bonding with Red took a while, but she's loyal once you have her respect. She—"  


"She?" Lance asked, frowning.  


"That's how I think of Red," Keith said. "Sorry, sometimes that just slips out. Anyways, she found me when I was miles away from the castle and in need of help, and when the Marmora trials nearly killed me. Red was protective and willing to fight for me. I think she'll do the same for you."  


Lance watched the knife spin, tensing every time it even hinted at spinning from Keith's grip. "You really think so?"  


Keith shrugged, slowing the knife until it stopped, and set it on the bed beside him. "I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it."  


Lance was silent for a long moment, watching how Keith tapped his fingers against the edge of the bed, eyes trained on the floor. "Thanks," he said.  


"Let's not make a habit of this, Lance. We might ruin our rivalry." Keith gave a half-smile, casting him a side glance. "We'll work on bonding with our lions tomorrow, and I'll tell you if anything works for me, okay?"  


Lance nodded, returning the smile. "Yeah. Night."


	3. Chapter 3

By the third night, Keith brought snacks. "So," he said, spreading the food out along the floor as Lance walked in, "we have the alien equivalent of nachos, something close to milk, and Hunk's latest batch of cookies."  


Lance raised a brow, dropping onto the floor opposite Keith. "Nice touch, Mullet."  


Keith nodded, clearly satisfied with his work. "Anyways, we were going to talk about bonding with our lions, right?"  


"Yup. Any new developments with you and Black?"  


"Black seems to like it best when I open my mind completely," Keith said, reaching for the nachos. "Work with it to develop a plan."  


Lance took a glass of milk. "Red doesn't really strike me as the thinking type."  


"No, probably not," Keith agreed, "but let it be in on your decisions and thought process."  


Lance picked up a cookie and dunked it in the frothy milk. "Is that what you did?" he asked, biting off the edge of the cookie. "Bonded with it over your impulsiveness?"  


Keith frowned, snapping off a chip from the tray. "Do you want my help or not?"  


"Sorry," Lance said quickly, raising a hand placatingly. "Reflex."  


Keith softened slightly, but his gaze was still sharp as he reached for more of the nachos. "Really, I think the key is just to imagine yourself as part of the lion. That you're not separate."  


"Deep. Very deep."  


"You weren't this sarcastic last time we talked. Something on your mind?"  


Lance crammed the rest of the cookie in his mouth and shook his head.  


Keith raised a brow. "Is this about what Shiro said? The guy was under a lot of stress. He didn't mean it."  


Lance laughed, but the sound was near delirious. "We both know he meant exactly what he said."  


"You're doing great with Red. Just because you couldn't get the sword formed in time doesn't mean you failed the team."  


"We almost got cut in half by Lotor's newest pet project!"  


Keith watched him closely, reaching out a hand to rest on Lance's shoulder. "We've all been seriously struggling since paladins changed. We could have avoided a lot of blows if I was a bit faster with the tactics."  


Both were silent for a moment, Lance staring pointedly at the glass he held, and Keith realizing that he had been touching Lance for far longer than their new friendship warranted. Drawing back, he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Let's talk about something else for a bit. I'm sick of hearing all our shortcomings," he said.  


Lance nodded, glad for the change of topic. "Let's," he agreed.  


"You know that game Pidge got at the space mall?" Keith asked, gesturing with his hands as though to shape it. "The one you guys got Kaltenecker with?"  


Lance brightened instantly. "Yeah?"  


"She's been working on a power source for it as a way to relieve stress, you know? Thinks it might be functional in a few days—"  


Lance clasped his hands to his heart, looking for the world like he might cry from joy. "Keith, those were the exact words I needed to hear. I've been away from earth and gaming systems for far too long."  


Keith's mouth curved into a smile as he leaned back on his hands. "Well, we should probably end it right there then. I don't think I have anything to top that news."  


"Sure. And Keith? Tell me when she gets it operational. I'll teach you the basic controls."  


"Really?"  


"Well, we need something to compete over."  


Keith's smile grew broader, and Lance grinned in return. "All for the rivalry?" Keith asked.  


"Of course."  


"Either way, thanks. I'm looking forward to it."


	4. Chapter 4

By the fourth night, Lance was betting on where Keith had hidden the Marmora blade. An air vent was his current favorite guess, though the mattress was a close second. Perhaps he would be surprised and discover it somewhere actually logical, like the jacket on the hook by the door (slim odds on that).  


In the end, it turned out to be none of the above.  


"You're late," Keith said as he strained a hand up towards the ceiling where the Marmora blade was embedded, sunk nearly to the hilt. "What kept you?"  


"Shiro apologized for being over-bearing," Lance said, narrowing his eyes at the weapon. "Stuff like that. You want help?"  


"I'll get it when we're finished," Keith answered with an airy wave of his hand, but Lance didn't miss the longing glance he cast it as they sat back on the bed, neither quite sure what to say.  


Lance cleared his throat, looking up at the knife as he said, "Red has started to open up."  


Keith raised a brow. "Oh?"  


"We're been bonding over a lack of thinking, just like you did before."  


Keith snorted, rolling his eyes as he said, "And you laughed at my advice."  


"We're getting along just grand," Lance said, ignoring the black-paladin's comment, "and I think it will only be a matter of time before I have it mastered."  


"I'm glad, then. You've come a long way since the garrison."  


Lance looked away from the knife to cast Keith a side glance. "You didn't even know I existed then," he said.  


Keith lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. "I knew you existed, I just didn't care."  


"That's actually worse. Thank you."  


"Well, if it makes you feel better, that's changed now."  


"So you care that I'm alive?" Lance asked.  


"More or less."  


Lance rolled his eyes, ignoring the slight twinge in his chest. "Great."  


Keith fidgeted with his hands, glancing up again at the blade stuck in the ceiling. "Look," he said tentatively, "I really do mean that I care. I know that you think we're rivals—"  


"Know, Keith. I know we're rivals."  


"—but I'd be fine calling you a friend at this point," the black paladin finished, fingers twitching as he studiously examined the ceiling. "So there."  


Lance, for what seemed the first time in his life, was at a loss for words. His mouth hung open, eyes widening as he watched Keith closely. The black paladin was acting strangely shy, showing little of the confidence he had linked the boy with. "I'm your friend," Lance said slowly, almost tripping over even these simple words.  


"If you want to be, yes."  


" _Your _friend."  
__

__"Yes, Lance."  
_ _

__"Keith Kogane, coolest pilot at the garrison and hope of our generation, wants to be my friend."  
_ _

__Keith looked over at this, faint smile tugging at his lips. "I was not aware I had those titles."  
_ _

__Lance pressed a hand to his forehead as though checking for a fever. "We're friends?" he asked. "When? When did this happen? How did I accomplish this?"  
_ _

__"We can go back to being rivals if it makes you feel better," Keith said.  
_ _

__"No," Lance replied all too quickly, flinging out a hand. "No, I just got here. Let me just—take this in. This is a pretty big moment for me."  
_ _

__Keith crossed his arms, turning away to hide a smile. "I'm sure it is."  
_ _

__Lance stared at the knife in the ceiling as though it held answers, his mind slowly working through the information. Keith Kogane, the one and only, greatest pilot known to man, wanted to be his friend.  
__

___This—changed things._ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there's any errors, feel free to comment and I'll try to fix them as quickly as possible.  
> Comments and feedback in general are super appreciated :)  
> Thank you so much for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

"Pidge was looking at me weird today."  


"Lance, everyone looks at you weird, it's kind of a natural reaction."  


The red paladin frowned over his cards, slapping down a two and saying triumphantly, "Uno!"  


Keith raised a brow. "Press twice," he said, laying down the card and shoving the machine towards Lance.  


"Joke's on you, this thing loves me."  


"Just press the button, Lance."  


Lance looked down at the card-dispensing machine (courtesy of a second trip to the space mall, as Pidge had been needing earth tech for her projects) and flashed it a disarming smile, hoping something in its mechanical brains would recognize charm.  


Keith looked unimpressed, though mildly disturbed. "Are you—flirting with it?"  


Lance aimed the smile at him, noticing how Keith didn't so much as flinch. "Note that I have one card—" he waved said card helpfully—"and you have twelve. Clearly, the machine likes me for a reason. And besides," he added, "you like me, too."  


"Are you going to make me regret calling you a friend?" Keith asked drily.  


"No, no," Lance said, reaching over to hit the button, "you love me far too much for that."  


"You'd like to think that, wouldn't you?"  


Lance crossed his fingers and pressed the button, inhaling sharply as it chimed. He waited a second, but no cards spewed out.  


Keith sighed, pressing a hand to his forehead. "Letting you win again would just be unfair," he groaned.  


Lance grinned at him before pressing the button again, holding his breath as the machine whirred—  


Five cards flew out onto the floor.  


"Come on, Uno, I thought we had a thing!"  


Keith turned to hide a smile, laying down card. "Are you just naturally flirtatious, or is it only with cards?"  


Lance frowned, gathering the offending objects into his hand and sorting them. "This just isn't my round."  


"I would disagree, but as you've won the last four..." Keith trailed off, shrugging as he played another card. "Like you said, this game loves you."  


"Keith, everyone loves me."  


"Let's not go fishing for compliments, hmm? Play your card."  


Lance gave a slight smile, noticing the black-haired boy hadn't denied his statement. Honestly, friendly rivals beat average, run-of-the-mill rivals in every way. "Since you were so kind to me last time," he said ominously, slamming down a card, "I thought I would return the favor."  


Keith stared at the card with a flat expression. "Press twice?"  


"Eat it, Mullet."  


Keith rolled his eyes, reaching over to click the button two times in quick succession.  


Not a single card shot out.  


Lance's eyes widened, hands gripping his cards drooping noticeably. "How could this be?"  


"I don't know, but either way, I'm fairly certain it's your turn."  


Lance glanced up at Keith suspiciously as the black paladin yawned, pressing a hand to his mouth. Had the boy been getting enough sleep? He'd noticed Keith had been lagging a bit on the training deck. Maybe they would have to cut off their midnight chat sessions at a more reasonable time...  


"You didn't rig the machine," Lance asked slowly, "did you?"  


Keith raised a brow, any telltale sign of sleepiness vanishing. "Lance, if I had that skill, you wouldn't have won any of the rounds before this."  


"Unless you wanted to keep me from getting suspicious."  


"Lance. Where is this coming from?"  


"You could have gotten Pidge to hack it for you," Lance said, his eyes widening in mock horror, "you could have been planning this all along."  


Keith, to his surprise, only looked amused. "Sure, you've caught me, now play your card or I'm going to sleep."  


Lance grudgingly placed a blue three on the pile.  


Keith glanced at his cards and played a red three.  


"So," Lance said slowly, setting another card on the stack, "I know we already went over this, but I wasn't kidding when I said Pidge has been giving me these super weird looks. You know, the kind she gives technology."  


"Fascinated?"  


"That's a—mild way of putting it. More like she's about to be the spectator of my unwitting demise."  


Keith shrugged, popping open the lid of the Uno machine to pull out the Marmora blade (okay, now he was just showing off. And how had he managed to fit it in there?). "I guess I know what you're saying, but I wouldn't worry too much. She's been looking at me like that too."  


Lance shifted his legs, stretching them out. He'd lost feeling a while ago, and the blood rushed back with a painful sensation. "Really?"  


"I'm not concerned. If it was something that serious, she would have talked to us already."  


"I mean, if you're sure," Lance said, strangely reluctant to let the topic drop. He wasn't completely sold that was all there was to it, even if Keith was. The black paladin had nodded, already moving on as he sorted through his cards, brow furrowing at the seemingly impossible problem of finding the right number or color. 

Lance might have known Pidge for only a short amount of time, first at the Garrison and then as paladins, but saving worlds together had a way of bonding people.  


And if he knew the green paladin at all, he understood that anything Pidge took an interest in was not just a mere fascination.  


And as not just he, but Keith, was an object of her fascination...  


This could not end well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is them having a fun time with Uno Attack bc I struggle with that game so much (the machine should not spit out cards as often as it does) (please feel free to share any uno attack grievances you have, I'd be delighted to empathize)
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

The doors to the black paladin's room hissed open as Keith staggered in, one arm wrapped about Lance's shoulder as the red paladin helped him to the bed.  
Keith's eyes were wide and dilated, and he blinked, wincing at the bright lighting of the room as he sunk into the mattress.  


Lance watched him closely as he tugged off Keith's jacket and tossed it on the ground, holding out a hand. "Blade," he said simply.  


Keith stared at him, almost offended even in his drugged state.  


Lance twitched his fingers, brow furrowing in what he hoped to be an imperious look. "You may be a master swordsman, but even you could hurt yourself after six hours of playing lab rat for Pidge's new science project."  


The project in question had been one long pushed aside by constant distress calls and a widely-spread immediate need for Voltron. It was only now, with half of Lotor's fleet suffering from a virus in their robot's coding, that Pidge had been able to work on it. If successful, it easily could be the best weapon against the Galra, second only to Voltron.  


Pidge had made her first batch over the span of three nights, fueled by too much space coffee and one-third a batch of Hunk's cookies. And with the sample ready to go and the technology to employ it, she'd only needed test subjects.  


This was where Keith and Lance had stepped in.  


Pidge had been excited, fidgeting with her computer and occasionally casting adoring looks at the stoppered vial next to her. "This," she'd said, "is just what we need to fight back against the living half of the Galra army. I've analyzed the genetics of the captain we captured a while back, and began comparing it with human DNA. It looks like they're more sensitive to certain stimuli. I narrowed down a few that cause only numbness in humans, but temporary paralysis in Galra if my research is correct."  


Shiro had smiled warmly, placing a hand on the green paladin's shoulder. "That's amazing, Pidge."  


"It would definitely help freed planets protect themselves against attacks," Allura had said approvingly, Coran beaming proudly at Pidge as he twirled the end of his mustache.  


Keith had narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. "Does it work?"  


"That," Pidge had said, trying to look sheepish but failing miserably, as she could only exude sheer delight at the thought of her next words, "is what I was getting around to. I need to test this stuff on Galra, humans, and Alteans just to be sure that I'm only getting our target species. And as we do, in fact, happen to have people that fall under those categories..."  


She'd trailed off, glancing between, Keith, Lance, and Coran with far too much excitement.  


Coran had been the first to respond, straightening up to his full height and positively beaming back at Pidge. "An experiment! Why, that sure brings me back to the old days of Altea. King Alfor and I had the best of times experimenting with the comet Voltron is made of. In fact, we discovered that if you lick—"  


"I'll help," Lance and Keith had said simultaneously. The black paladin had cast the red paladin a bemused look, receiving a raised brow in answer.  


"How long will this take?" Keith had asked, gaze not breaking from Lance's.  


Pidge had shrugged, tapping the keys on her computer to pull up a clock. "Couple hours?"

It had not been, in fact, only a couple hours.  


Lance felt that deeply now, in each numb, twitching limb.  


"Blade," he repeated, and Keith woefully passed him the Marmora dagger, eyes lingering on his empty palm as Lance set it on the floor beside the bed. "You must be pretty tired, so I'm just going to head over to my room and let you get some sleep, 'kay?"  


Keith's eyes widened impossibly further, and he gave a quick shake of his head.  


Lance frowned. "You're not tired?"  


Keith shook his head again.  


"Do you want me to—stay?"  


A nod.  


Lance scoffed, pressing a hand to the black paladin's forehead. "How drugged are you? I mean, we're friends, but even then, we're rival friends. There's a difference."  


Keith stared up at him silently as Lance checked for a fever, drawing back when he was satisfied the black paladin was only suffering minor delirium rather than disease. Keith started when Lance's hand settled again at his side, making a quiet sound of protest.  


"Do you want me to keep touching you?" Lance asked with a slight laugh, expecting Keith to elbow him in the gut or make some unintelligible noise.  


He had not expected for the black paladin to reach out a tentative hand, meeting Lance's and twining their fingers together. Keith drew Lance closer to the edge of the bed, resting their hands on the sheets.  


Lance stared as Keith gave him a sleepy smile, eyes finally sliding shut as he drifted off. The red paladin crouched by the bed, unwilling to move and wake the sleeping boy.  


He waited for the situation to settle in, to grasp just what had happened.  


But it was just too strange to comprehend that Keith would want to touch someone, let alone him.  


And it was far too strange that he wouldn't simply pull back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's taken me a while to update, I've been in a bit of a slump. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, you have my undying love <3


	7. Chapter 7

It took only three words to break Lance's heart.  


"I don't remember," Keith said, shrugging as he cut his nails with the Marmora blade. It made clean little clicks as he pressed down, movements quick and practiced. "I was pretty drugged up, so it makes sense."  


He was taking the news surprisingly well, a far different reaction than that of the companion sitting across from him on the floor.  


Lance's eyes widened impossibly further, his mouth ajar as he spluttered, trying to put his disjointed thoughts into words. "What do you mean you don't remember?" he forced out, stabbing an accusing finger at the black paladin. "I held your hand for almost five hours until you let go!"  


Keith raised a brow, clearly unswayed by the show of emotion. In fact, if Lance didn't know better, he met have said the black paladin was enjoying himself. "Your proof is?" he asked cheerfully.  


Lance made an unintelligible sound, clasping a hand to his forehead as he stared at the far wall. "This isn't happening to me," he said, shaking his head. "This is not going to be 'The Bonding Moment 2.0.'"  


"Yeah, well, I don't remember, so it kind of already—."  


Lance lunged forward to clap a hand over Keith's mouth, ignoring the way Keith's eyes narrowed. "No, no, no, Mullet," he said. "You are not going to tell me again. There's only so much one heart can take."  


"This isn't the worst thing that's happened to us, Lance," Keith said as he pried away Lance's hand, raising a brow. "Besides, you don't even remember the bonding moment we shared before."  


Lance scoffed as he reluctantly leaned back, tucking his knees against his chest. He was hiding a grin, forcing his brow to furrow. "When you 'cradled me in your arms?' Really Keith, if your going to come up with a lie, make it convincing."  


Keith only gave him a smug smile, saying again, "I don't remember you—"  


Lance darted forward again to clasp a hand over Keith's mouth again, moving in closer as Keith jerked away, laughing as he added, "—ever holding my hand, and as far as I can tell, it never happened—"  


Lance gave up on catching the black paladin, and simply lunged forward to throw all his weight into Keith, the black paladin giving a surprised yelp as he toppled over onto his back, still protesting "The Bonding Moment 2.0" even as he fell.  


Pinning Keith's arms with his and quickly shifting his weight to the black paladin's chest to keep him down, Lance gave Keith a smug look. "Still don't remember?" he asked, flashing the boy his signature grin.  


Keith shook his head, startled look changing to one of amusement as he spat a strand of black hair out of his mouth. "Do you remember the original bonding moment?" he asked. "Because until you remember the first, I certainly won't remember the second."  


Lance gasped in mock horror. "So you do remember!"  


Keith gave a half shrug as Lance shifted his weight forward, red paladin leaning closer to keep the boy from moving about. "Who knows?" he asked innocently.  


"You're the worst, Mullet."  


Keith gave Lance a smug smile as he tugged his arms from Lance's grip, pushing the red paladin back as he sat up. "I know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter turned mostly into fluff, hopefully that's okay
> 
> (Lie17 and yoslina_the_sinner, you are the best, thank you so much for reading and commenting on every chapter. You have my undying love <3)
> 
> Thank you so much for reading :)


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